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Really is an energy saver!

We live in end of terrace house, that was obviously built by people who loved to be cold! The insulation is shocking, and with the constant rise in energy prices, we didn't want to have the heating on full whack all the time, so we set about looking for some ways to make the house warmer.

One of our worst draughts was coming in through the living room window, and as my spot on the sofa is right next to it, the colder it got I was really feeling it. We had a big gap between the windows and the frames, big enough you could see daylight through it, so my first mission was to find a quick fix for that.

Browsing the Wilkinsons website, I spotted this Setfast energy saving Door and Window draught seal. During a visit to the store I hunted them out.

They come in packs in either brown or white, 5 metres, or 15 metres. A 5 metre packet costs £2.47, and a 15metre costs £3.57. As our windows are quite large we opted for a 15 metre pack.

Once home, we opened it up, and we got two reels of this self adhesive padding, which is about 1cm thick. It is simple to use, you just peel the backing off the sticky side, and stick it to the edges of the window. My husband did get a bit frustrated while doing this as our windows open outwards and as they are large, it was some distance, and not thinking, he started at the inside edge and worked his way outwards, meaning when he got to the end of the window, he couldn't reach to cut the end off! Which meant him balancing on the window sill and me out in the cold snipping the end off! He did this round all 3 outer edges of the window, pressed down on them all to make sure they were firmly stuck, then closed the window. Hey presto, no big gaps with daylight streaming through!

Our window has three opening section, two long panels down the side, and one small bit in the middle at the top. He has managed to seal all three of these off with one roll of the padding, and we still have another roll left (which I am still waiting for him to use on our bedroom window!)

We haven't used this on any doors to be honest as we don't have any draughts coming through them, but I would think it is as simple to apply to a door as it is a window.

I have to say, for just under £4, I am super impressed! As well as seeing no daylight, I no longer feel the wind on me every time it blows, in fact I don't even get the slightest hint of a draught any more. We have also noticed that, even with the heating on, before it used to get cold in the living room really quickly after it had been turned off, but now the heat is kept in the room even longer as there are no gaps for it to escape from.

We have only had this on for just over a week, but I am really happy with it. Obviously in this weather we won't be having the windows open a lot so we don't know how it will fare in the summer with them being opened and shut a lot, I am not sure if it will stay stuck on, but I won't hesitate to buy more to apply next winter if needs be.